Opinion Housing - The Boston Globe

Luna, 19 months, her brother Fritz, 17, and their mother Sergeline (not pictured) were placed in a hotel room in Boston, May 2. The migrants from Haiti arrived from the Boston Medical Center’s temporary shelter in a waiting room there.

OpEds

The myth of right to shelter in Massachusetts

While we would be provided a hotel to live in, it was located 108 miles from our home community. With our schools, jobs, and doctors all in the proximity of our hometown, this move threatened to destabilize our lives beyond the havoc wrought by homelessness. 3:00 a.m.

Mary J. Casey, 90, lives in an accessory dwelling unit attached to her son’s home in Abington in 2022. She stands with her daughter, Mary M. Casey, near the overhang that connects the unit, on right, to her son’s home, on left.

OpEds

The key to more housing is in our own backyards

Accessory dwelling units can address housing needs without disrupting the character of communities. 3:00 a.m.

Edward M. Augustus Jr. was sworn in as the secretary of the the newly formed Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities on June 1.

OpEds

Four steps the new housing secretary should take

These steps would help thousands of residents secure affordable housing. 3:00 a.m.

The East Boston Community Development Corp. bought 36 mostly triple-deckers with 114 units of housing in East Boston last year.

OpEds

How the private sector can ease housing crisis

A project in East Boston illustrates how a partnership between the public sector, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector can secure housing. This kind of partnership can be replicated throughout the state. 3:00 a.m.

Sergeline, who did not want to give her family's last name, sat on a bed in a hotel room in Boston in early May with her baby, Luna, and her son Fritz, 17. They arrived from Boston Medical Center’s waiting room.

Columns

Have an extra room in your home? Host a migrant.

While the state works to assign newly arrived migrants to long-term shelters, which can take a couple of days, most of them need to find a place to stay in the meantime. 2:32 p.m.

Cyndie Medina Pagan shares a bedroom with her 2-year-old twins in her parents’ apartment.

Editorials

Does a housing application really need to be 30 pages long?

Securing a spot in an income-restricted unit shouldn’t be so difficult. But in Massachusetts, the application process has become so onerous that it undermines the whole purpose of subsidized housing. 4:13 p.m.

This week the Wu administration offered substantial real estate tax breaks to developers willing to take on the complex and costly efforts of converting downtown office building space into apartments or condos.

Editorials

Vacant after the pandemic, downtown offices might find new life as housing

Wu administration opens a narrow window for tax breaks for developers ready to turn office space into housing. 5:54 a.m.

Letters

Bidding wars … unbridled greed … how does rent control sound now?

Bidding wars in the Boston rental market are not just caused by a housing shortage. Let’s talk about how those who invest in housing are profiting off of hard-working people. 2:20 a.m.